Cat&Mouse
by EpicChocolate
Summary: Dishonoring the Gods is never ends well. HitsuKarin.


**Summary** – Dishonoring the Gods never ends well. HitsuKarin  
**Pairings –** HituKarin, some IchiRuki  
**Notes** – Something of a prequel to 'time passes as we freeze'. Yeah. I decided to make it! Greek Gods-esque since that only Gods I can say I have down pat...And there's no honorifics because I'm trying to make this like in ancient Greek times. I probably failed...

* * *

In the beginning, they were a group, united in their belief that there was no Gods and that humans controlled their own faith. They scoffed at people who prayed everyday and sacrificed food that could be the deciding hand if they lived or faded away. They were a family.

* * *

Karin Kurosaki was known to most as the little sister of Ichigo Kurosaki – the amazing, the best, the strongest – and that was it. She wasn't Karin Kurosaki but rather the little sister of Ichigo Kurosaki. At first, she was OK with it. It wasn't that much of a big deal but as time passed, as she grew older and older, she realized that it wasn't the life she wanted. She'd rather have a taste of something else – a taste of being her own person.

She ran from her problems and that was that. As far as their tiny little village knew, there was no more little sister of Ichigo Kurosaki and there never was a Karin Kurosaki. Karin lived on her own for months, relishing the fact that wherever she went, she was _nobody._ No one knew her family, no one knew Ichigo.

Until she ran into Toushiro Hitsugaya. There wasn't any sparks nor they did fall in love at first sight. Instead, he walked up to her and said "Ichigo is going nuts looking for you." So Karin Kurosaki did what she did best – she assaulted him before getting the hell out of there.

They had a rather strange relationship, something of a cat and mouse game. A never ending loop of running, snarling at each other, and fighting. They didn't fall in love during the course of their game but they both grew to act like the other was a constant. When they were always moving, always running, they could acknowledge the fact that the other would be right behind or ahead.

"_Why are you running?"_

_"Why are you chasing?"_

"So you finally found me. Want a medal or something?"Karin asked, staring out the window and trying to ignore the man in front of her with everything she had. Hitsugaya ignored her as well and Ichigo stared at the table awkwardly, probably wondering what to say. At the table behind them, a group of Ichigo's friends were talking amongst themselves and glancing at their table every once a while. "Tell them to stop looking at me!"she snapped, glaring at them and to her surprise, most of them glared right back.

"They want to see the girl that managed to hide from Kurosaki for two years,"Hitsugaya's voice sounded like a low rumble, almost like a how a dragon would sound like, and Karin turned her glare to him. He simply raised a brow before turning away.

"He's a bounty hunter, Karin!"the woman with a rather..._large_ bosom chirped and the youngest Kurosaki turned towards her, her expression sour. Who the hell did this woman think she was, calling her by first names already? "You managed to hide for two years! Thats a record!"The woman smiled at her before taking a swig of her wine.

"Karin, stop running. Please. Yuzu is married off and Goat-chin is...Goat-chin,"at this, the two siblings nodded at each other, in mutual understanding that their father was insane. "You're the only family I have left."

Karin would never understand what persuaded her to stay but she did and the smile that lit up her brother's face made all her doubts go away.

"_Were you ever sorry that you whacked me with a board so you could drag me to Ichigo?"_

_"Not really."_

As it turned out, Ichigo and his group of insane friends were all bounty hunters and for the past two years, they had tried to catch Karin.

She never stopped rubbing it in their faces that a group of six people could never catch a teenaged girl.

"We're going to set fire to a temple!" Renji cheered as he bounded into the small house they had, holding what had to be at the very least, ten pounds of gold. Byakuya and Toushiro walked in, covered in a shiny coat of sweat, the former raising a brow.

"I never took you as a pyromaniac,"he smoothly said, grabbing an apple and biting in it, taking care so the juice wouldn't dribble down his chin.

"I'm not! I just got paid about Karin's weight in gold,"at this he had to duck since a broom was flying towards his head. "and I'd be willing to burn down a 'place of worship'."he scoffed, sounding like the very idea mocked his existence.

Knowing Renji Abarai, it probably did.

"If we do burn a temple, we're going to have run fact before hundreds of villagers chase after us,"Rukia reminded, running a hand through her short hair as if it helped her thing.

"I don't want to die."

"Who says you are?"Toushiro asked Karin and she sat for a minute, probably wondering what had made her say that, before shrugging.

"Chances are, we'd be dead the instant they realize what we do. We're signing our own death warrant!"

"So you're scared?"

"...Hell no. Lets do this."

_"You know, you should listen to me more often."_

_"Yeah, yeah."_

The instant Matsumoto dropped the lit torch on the marble that was wet with oil, she knew something was wrong. Not in their plan, no, it was going smoothly. But it felt wrong, it felt like something was burning through her skin, boiling her blood. Nervous, she turned and started to run, dragging along Byakuya and Renji and the moment their feet touched the soil, they all collapsed in a spasm.

Their body shook and out of the corner of her eye, Matsumoto could see the other four racing towards them before collapsing in a heap themselves. The pain soared to impossible heights and she started to scream but nothing would come out.

_'Gods are meant to be worshiped,'_a deep voice started to speak and Matsumoto wanted nothing more for the pain to end. She wanted nothing more than to die.

_'We're meant to **revered** not for our houses of worship to be burned! And for that, I'm taking away the thing you live for. Death would be too kind.' _ Matsumoto bit her tongue, trying to anything, _everything,_to stop the pain. It come coming in an unstoppable torrent.

_'You're going to to be cursed with what other's wish. Eternal life. And each time, for each century, you'll have to watch ones you grow to love leave you.'_ With that, the pain left and Matsumoto was left panting for breath.

"_We were idiots."_

_"Finally! Something we can agree on!"_

* * *

They were together once but the curse left them scarred. They couldn't spit on the Gods' name, they couldn't do the things they once they did. All they were now was broken. 

* * *

**Notes –** I like it at first and then meh. I have no idea what happened but this came out and I'm semi OK with it.

And there was no HitsuKarin except for underlying tension. Yay for tension! Woohoo!

Also, in case you could figure it out, the dialogue between the paragraphs was Toushiro and Karin.

Drop a review on your way out.


End file.
